


The Other Face

by Rochelle_Templer



Category: The Monkees, The Monkees (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 14:04:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13389363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rochelle_Templer/pseuds/Rochelle_Templer
Summary: There is the face that each of the guys shows to the world. And then there is the other face.....





	The Other Face

_‘What are you, a little kid? Why are you so hyper?’_

Those are words Micky Dolenz had heard many times before. When he actually was a child; they were framed as something charming. Now that he was in his twenties, they had an entirely different slant.

Truthfully, he didn’t mind it. Not really. He knew that he acted silly and dramatically. He always had. It didn’t seem important to change that just because it annoyed some people. There were a lot worse things he could be than child-like.

Besides, he still preferred that to being referred to as a nerd. A boring nerd who no one would want to put up with. People usually didn’t want to hear about how he was trying to re-build a radio or play with chemistry sets or think about what life on other planets would be like. Sometimes, he would run across someone who would. But those people tended to not like the sillier side of him anyway.

It was just easier to be the clown. To make people and maybe even make himself laugh. It was fun so it wasn’t like he hated doing it.

Even if it meant hearing those questions yet again. And knowing that not all of the laughter was kind.

_‘What made you think that? You sure are dumb.’_

Peter had heard that more than once over the years. Thus, he was used to being the dummy. That didn’t seem like such a bad thing to be. Sure, he wanted to be complimented on his smarts once in a while, but that didn’t seem very important. Dumb and smart didn’t seem to be fixed ideas to Peter. Maybe he was the dummy, but tomorrow he could be the smart one. No one knew what the next day would bring.

Putting that aside, Peter wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to be smart. Smart appeared to be a consensus. People had to agree on what was smart and share those thoughts. Peter did like to share, but he also liked to have thoughts of his own. Thoughts that were special to him and that put a different perspective on his world. There were so many exciting ways to re-think seeing a flower or remembering something from a book. Peter knew that he didn’t want to lose those possibilities.

Even if that meant that he had to be the dummy. Always the dummy.

_‘You’re such a cold fish. Do you ever feel anything?’_

Mike never had an answer for that. He wasn’t sure he could come up with one that could satisfy the person asking it. Also, he knew that there was plenty of truth in that accusation. He didn’t express emotion as much as other people did. He simply couldn’t. Freely expression his emotions would mean a loss of control and an opportunity for others to see him be vulnerable. Neither one was something Mike felt entirely comfortable with experiencing.

The irony was that Mike did often feel things even if they all stayed in his head. He felt every kind, affectionate gesture and every cruel insult deeply. They all reached into his heart. However, it was also easier for him to not give those emotions the outlet most people associated with them. Love could be expressed by doing chores in the pad. Hurt could be expressed in a song he sang with the guys onstage. There didn’t seem to be a need to push himself to be something he could not be.

Even if it meant that he was often alone. Remaining in a solitude he did not always want.


End file.
